Steve Vai confesses he was a “diva” during his Whitesnake days

Who comes across interviews steve vai or even if you are lucky enough to know him in person, in general, he reports that the guitarist is a calm guy and a good person. Musicians who worked with him in his solo career also often praise his personality.

It wasn’t always like this. Especially at the end of the 1980s, Vai was on top of the world when he was recognized as one of the most brilliant guitarists of that generation — and he ended up letting his ego get the better of him at times.

This occurred most notably during his brief stint at Whitesnakebetween 1989 and 1990. In current statements, the musician acknowledged that he was somewhat difficult to deal with, even more so because he was hired with a “weight of gold” by the vocalist David Coverdale.

In an interview with Vintage Rock Pod(via Ultimate Guitar/ website Igor Miranda), the virtuoso initially told the reasons that led him to join the Whitesnake. He was already beginning to plan the resumption of his solo instrumental work, embodied in the album Passion and Warfare (1990), but I thought it made more sense to tour with a group with vocals.

“At that point, I thought it would make a lot more sense to do a tour and an album with Whitesnake. It was on impulse but, luckily for me, I really liked the music they were making. […] I love great singers. AND Coverdale it was a monster. The compositions for ‘Slip of the Tongue’ [único álbum da banda gravado por Vai] They were already ready, I just needed to put my guitars in.”

In a situation full of faculties, it was the man himself Steve who caused difficulties. The guitarist cited that he was mesmerized by the rockstar life and didn’t recognize that, in the end, he was becoming a difficult person to work with.

“If anyone was difficult, it was me. I was a bit of a ‘diva’. I came from the band David Lee Roth, who you learn certain things from, like how to navigate business, the press and things like that. Furthermore, I had released ‘Passion and Warfare’. It was booming while touring with Whitesnake.”

Steve Vai, the pretentious one

In another interview, from 2020, with Guitar World (via the Igor Miranda website), Steve He even defined himself as a “pretentious” person during that period. He took advantage of the occasion to extol the talents and personalities of his colleagues.

“The guys were fantastic. Rudy Sarzo (bassist) is the coolest in the world. Tommy Aldridge (drummer) is hilarious and talented. Adrian Vandenberg (guitarist) was fantastic, very cultured, and he was a great musician with great timbre. And everyone tolerated my attitude and the fact that I was pretentious.”

Adrian Vandenberg agree. Guitar colleague steve vai at the Whitesnake,Adrian Vandenberg agrees that it was not easy to deal with your partner. The report was given to Guitar World(via Igor Miranda website). Disagreements began right during the recording of the album Slip of the Tongue (1989), of which Vandenberg did not participate because he had suffered a wrist injury — although he contributed to the compositions.

“I admired Stevebut I already had a prior vision of how I wanted the songs on the record to sound: I wanted big rhythm guitars, melodic licks and a little blues. [Tocar ao vivo as músicas que ele havia gravado] It was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done. It took me a few weeks to start to appreciate the work of Steve. I had to overcome my frustration at not being able to play the songs the way I wanted, but once I got over it and became close to SteveI started to love the way the songs turned out.”

Although it did not repeat the success of the 1987 album of the same name, Slip of the Tongue it surpassed the mark of one million copies sold in the United States, guaranteeing the band a platinum record. From this work, the songs came out as singles “The Deeper the Love”, “Now You’re Gone” and a reinterpretation of “Fool for Your Loving”, originally released by the group in 1980.